Finding Safety
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Takes place at the end of Third Year. Harry and Draco runaway together to get away from their abusive families. Will a certain potions Master be able to find them and gain their trust?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters**

**Finding Safety**

Harry walked outside and down to the quidditch patch, where he found Draco Malfoy waiting for him. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey. Are we still doing this?" asked Draco.

Harry nodded. "Sirius is on the run now and we made a deal. We're in this together."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Draco.

"We have to wait until the year is over. We have about a week. We get on to the train and then we wait until everyone is off. The train won't leave King's Cross for an hour after everyone gets off. We wait for as long as possible and then get off. We'll hide under my cloak and then take off. We'll have to hide in the muggle world. No one will find us there," said Harry.

"Where should we go?" asked Draco.

"Does it matter? As long as we don't have to go back to our respective homes, I don't think it matters where we go," he replied.

Draco nodded. "Do you have the money?"

"Yeah, I took a load of money from my trust vault the last time we were in Hogsmead," Harry responded.

"Sorry I couldn't help, but my father would notice if I took that much money," said Draco.

'It's fine. As long as we get away from Lucius and Vernon, I don't care about the money," said Harry.

Draco laughed. "Can you believe this? You and me of all people working together?"

Harry chuckled. He did appreciate the irony. He and Draco has pretty much been enemies until the beginning of the year. Harry still remembered the day he and Draco had realized how much they had in common.

_Flashback_

_Harry walked into the boy's bathroom and took his shirt off. His back and shoulders were covered in bruises from where his uncle had taken the belt to him. Harry started putting a muggle cream on his shoulders when he heard a gasp from behind him. He quickly turned around to see a shocked Draco Malfoy staring at him._

_Harry was horrified. He couldn't believe that his secret had been outed by his worst enemy. He waited for Malfoy to make fun of him, but it never came. "What are you waiting for. Go ahead and tell me how pathetic I am. Tell me how weak I am for letting a muggle get the best of me," he said._

"_No," said Draco._

"_Why not?" asked Harry._

"_Because I understand. I know what it feels like. My father has abused me since I was eight," he answered._

_That surprised Harry. He couldn't believe that Malfoy had been abused. Malfoy was always boasting about his father and the influence that the man had. It never occurred to him that it could be a façade. _

"_I won't tell anyone your secret if you don't tell anyone mine," said Draco._

_Harry nodded._

_Flashback_

"Yeah, that was definitely a strange day," Draco commented. "Anyway, we should go before we're missed. I'll see you on the train."

Harry nodded. Both boys then went there separate ways.


	2. Chapter 2

About a week later, Harry was on the train from Hogwarts. He was sitting in a compartment with Ron and Hermione. They were having some kind of fight, which Harry was ignoring. All he could think about was Draco and what they were about to do.

_Flashback_

_Harry and Draco were currently sitting in the quidditch patch. It was the one spot they could go to where they could be alone and talk to each other about their respective home lives._

"_Have you ever thought about leaving?" asked Draco._

"_You mean running away?" asked Harry._

_He nodded._

"_Once when I was about eight or nine, but I knew I wouldn't get far. I had no money and no where to go," explained Harry. "Have you ever thought about it?"_

"_Yeah, but I wouldn't get far. My father would have everyone in the wizarding world looking for me," said Draco._

_Harry looked up as if he'd just got a wonderful idea. "You know, I have money know and we could hide in the muggle world."_

"_Are you serious?" asked a shocked Draco._

"_Yeah. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to return to the Dursley's," he said._

"_I don't want to go home either, but how do we even pull it off?" asked Draco_

"_We'd have to plan it through. We'd have to consider all the angles and make sure we didn't get caught, but we could do it and we have some time to figure it out," Harry explained. "What do you say?"_

_Draco thought for a minute before answering. "I say it's better than going back and getting the crap kicked out of me."_

_Flashback_

"Harry, are you okay?" asked a concerned Hermione.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. I just remembered that I promised to help Neville with something," Harry said as he started to grab his things and get up.

"We'll come with you," said Ron.

"No, Neville said he wanted me to come alone. He doesn't want anyone to know that he needs help with his schoolwork," Harry lied. "If I don't make it back before the train stops, I'll see you at the station," he lied once more. He knew that they wouldn't see him at the station. They wouldn't see him ever again, but he couldn't tell them that.

Harry quickly walked out of the compartment and down the train corridor until he came across a compartment where Draco was sitting alone. He looked around quickly and then slipped inside. "Hey."

"Hey, did anyone see you?" asked Draco.

"No, I was careful," said Harry.

"Good because no one can know that we are on friendly terms for this to work," said Draco.

Harry nodded and sat across from Draco.

"What did you tell your friends?" asked Draco.

"That I was helping Neville with some of his summer work," he answered. "You?"

"Mine are easy. I just tell them to go away and they do it," he answered.

Harry nodded and then they both sat there nervously.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A couple hours later, Harry and Draco were anxiously waiting when the train stopped.

"Well, this is it. We just have to wait for a little while and then we'll get under my cloak. No one will even see us leave," said Harry.

"Are you scared?" asked Draco.

"Yeah, but not as scared as I would be if I were going back to the Dursley's," said Harry.

"What do you think we should do once he get off the train?' he asked.

"I say we go find a hotel for the night. We can tell the receptionist that we're brothers and that our parents allowed us to pay for them," Harry replied.

After about a half hour, Draco got up and carefully peeked his head out of the compartment. He then came back in and turned to Harry. "The train's empty."

Harry nodded and stood up . "Okay, lets go."

"Our trunks won't fit under the cloak," Draco pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. We won't be able to use magic after today anyway. They'd be able to track us if we did. Everything else we can get once we are safe," he explained.

Draco didn't like the fact that he wouldn't be able to use magic, but he figured it was a small price to pay for freedom.

Harry and Draco then quickly got under Harry's invisibility cloak and quietly left the train. When they got through the barrier and back to Kings Cross, they heard the Weasley's and Hermione near by.

"Ron, he probably already came off and left," said Mrs Weasley.

"He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," said Ron.

Under the cloak, Harry was feeling extremely guilty for the pain he was going ot cause his friends.

Draco noticed this and decided to speak up. "Harry, we can't worry about them. They'll be okay eventually, but we won't if we go back."

Harry knew that Draco was right. Ron and Hermione would get over his absence, but if he went back to the Dursley's he might not even survive to see them again. He had to leave and save himself while he had the chance. "Okay, lets go,"


	3. Chapter 3

About an hour or so later, Harry and Draco walked in to their new hotel room.

"That was close," commented Harry.

"Yeah, I thought we were goners until you pointed to that man and said he was our father. It was a stroke of genius using Professor Snape's name when he checked in." said Draco. Draco looked around the room. He saw two beds,, a dresser, a small kitchen, and a table. He also saw something in the center of the room that looked weird to him.

"Harry, what's that?" asked Draco.

"What's what?" asked Harry.

"That box in the center of the room," he clarified.

"You mean the television?" asked Harry.

"What's a television?" asked Draco.

"It's something muggles use for entertainment. I'll show you how it works later. Right now, I think we should find something to eat. I'm starved," he replied

"Yeah, me too," Draco agreed.

"Okay, you wait here while I go to the market for some food," said Harry. He then grabbed his jacket and some money and walked out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Harry returned with a couple of bags of groceries.

"Hey, what did you get?" Draco asked as he went to greet him.

"Well, I had to get a bit creative because we don't have a stove, so I got us some stuff for sandwiches, some tomatoes and cucumbers for a salad, and some cereal and milk for the morning," Harry explained.

"What is cereal?" he asked.

Harry rolled his eyes at how ignorant some wizards could be. "It's muggle breakfast food. You pour the cereal in a bowl and pour milk on top of it. It's quite good," he explained. "Okay, so you start making the sandwiches and I'll start making the salad."

Draco nodded and started his task.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Severus Snape entered Albus Dumbledore's office after being asked to meet him there. "You wanted to see me, Headmaster,"

"Yes. I just got word from Lucius Malfor. It appears that young Draco never made it home," said Albus.

"What?" asked an alarmed Severus. Draco was his Godson and if he was missing, Severus would have to find out why.

"Yes, it appears that he never even made it Kings Cross," he explained.

"Well, where could he be?" asked Severus.

"That's a very good question. Do you have any idea? Did he say anything to you?" Albus asked.

"No, of course not. You think I'm harboring him?" asked an outraged Severus.

"Of course not, Severus. I was merely wondering if he gave you any indication of going somewhere else before going home or something," said Albus.

Severus calmed down when he heard this. "No, he didn't say a word."

Just then Minerva walked into the office with two trunks with her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Albus, but I think we have two students missing."

"What brought you to that conclusion?" asked the headmaster.

She pointed to the trunks. "These were found on the train. One is Malfoy's, the other is Potter's."

"Potter probably just forgot his trunk," said Severus.

"It was found in the same compartment as Malfoy's," said Minerva. "I also spoke to Harry's friends. He never met them at King's Cross."

Severus sighed. He knew what had happened. "They left together of their own free will."

"That's ridiculous. Potter and Malfoy hate each other," Minerva pointed out.

"And they never stopped fighting. They still had their little public displays. That's why it was so perfect. No one suspect a thing until it was too late. Until they were gone," he explained.

"You think they planned this?" asked Albus.

Severus nodded. "Certainly. They planned this to the letter. All the way down to leaving their trunks on the train. It was smart. It was very slytherin."

"How is leaving their trunks with their wands behind smart?" asked Minerva.

"Think about it. If they used magic, we might be able to find them. By leaving them behind, they removed the temptation," Severus explained. "This isn't amateur hour. They've probably been planning this for months. The only thing I'm unsure of is why. Why would they run away?"

"We must find them," said Albus.

"Well, thank you captain obvious," Severus said sarcastically. "Finding them won't be easy though. I'd bet my career on the fact that they are hiding in the muggle world and if they are, finding them will be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"We should talk to their friends," said Albus.

"These boys planned this. They didn't tell their friends what they were doing," he said.

"Maybe not, but they may know why they would run away," Albus replied. "Severus, go speak with young Draco's friends and then to Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. Minerva, you and I shall go to the Dursley's and make 100 percent certain that Harry isn't there." With that the three of them left to complete their specific tasks.


	4. Chapter 4

Severus approached the Weasley house. He'd just finished talking to Crabbe and Goyle, who were clueless as usually. He only hoped that Weasley and Granger could tell him more than Draco's idiot friends.

"Severus, what can I do for you?" asked Molly as she opened the door for him.

"I need to speak to Ron and the twins," answered Severus. Out of all the weasley's, Potter was closer to those three. If any of them knew anything it would be them.

"Fred, George, Ron, get down here!" she called. "May I ask what this is about?"

"Harry Potter never made it home last night. We think he's run away," Severus told her.

Molly gasped in horror.

"What is it, Mum?" asked Ron.

"Did any of you help Harry run away from home?" she asked.

They all shock their heads.

"Harry ran away?" asked a shocked Ron/

"He did. Do you know why he would do that?" asked Severus.

All three boys looked down.

"What do you know?" Molly asked sharply.

"Well, before second year, we went to get Harry and he had bars on his windows." said Fred.

Severus was shocked. Never in a million years did he think that Harry Potter could have been neglected of abused. If this was true, it was no wonder he ran away. "And you didn't think this was worth mentioning?"

"We told Mum," said George.

Severus turned and glared at Molly.

"They'd said after I yelled at them for stealing the car. I thought they were exaggerating," said Molly.

Severus turned back to the boys. "Is there anything else?

"Harry always hated going back to the Dursley's. He doesn't like them and they don't like him. They always make him do all the chores at home and they lock up his things. I don't know if it got any worse than that," said Ron.

"Ron, you should have told somebody," Molly reprimanded.

"I thought Dumbledore knew. Harry said his Hogwarts letter was addressed to the Cupboard Under the Stairs, which is where he slept until his letter came.

Severus sighed. It was a reasonable assumption, but inaccurate. Those letters were magically addressed. There was no way that anyone would have known.

Severus quickly thanked Molly and left to go inform the headmaster of his findings.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When Severus got back to the headmaster's office, he found that Albus and Minerva had returned as well.

"Severus, did you find anything for us?" asked Albus.

"I know why Potter would run away. His relatives have been at the very lest verbally abusive. I suspect it was physical as well," replied Severus.

After hearing this, Minerva glared at Albus. "I told you not to send him there! I told you they were the worst kind of muggles, but no, you couldn't listen to me and now look what happened! That boy is out there fending for himself because of your idiocy!" she ranted.

"Are you sure Severus?" asked Albus. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that he'd sentenced a child to a horrible life.

Severus nodded.

"What about Draco? Do we know why he ran?" asked Albus.

"Draco's friends were as clueless as ever, but I think it was for the same reason. Something brought these boys together and I believe it was their horrible childhoods," he said.

"Has Draco ever given you any indication that he was abused?" Albus questioned.

"No, but he's always been a good liar, and it appears that Potter is as well," Severus answered.

"Where do we start looking for them?" asked Minerva.

"They're in the muggle world. They must be because they know they'd be found easily if they stayed in our world, especially Potter," said Severus.

"Well, How far could they get with no money?" she asked.

Severus snorted. "What makes you think they don't have money? Neither of these boys are exactly poor. Now, I'm not sure Draco could get any without Lucius getting suspicious, but Potter certainly could."

"When could he have done it though?" Minerva wondered.

"Hogsmead weekend," he answered.

"Harry wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmead this year," she pointed out.

"Do you really think that stopped him? He had that Cloak," said Severus.

"If they have money, they could be anywhere?" said Albus.

"No, not anywhere. Even with money, there are very few places that two thirteen year olds can go by themselves without drawing attention to themselves in the muggle world. I say we check the hotel's in London tomorrow," Severus suggested.

"Why wait?" asked Minerva.

"Because it's late and nothing will be open,," he said.

"Alright we'll deal with this tomorrow morning," said Albus.

Minerva and Severus nodded and quickly left the headmaster's office.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Severus went down to the headmaster's office to find that Minerva was there as well.

"Ah, Severus, it's good that you're here. We must do this quickly. I managed to convince the Dursley's to take Harry back, but the sooner he's found the better.

Severus thought he must of heard wrong. There was no way that the headmaster could be considering sending a child back to those kind of conditions. "I'm sorry, Albus, I must have heard you wrong. I thought I heard you say that you wanted to send Potter back to his relatives."

"I did say that," said Albus.

"Is it your goal to see this boy go into an early grave? You are sentencing him to at the very least a miserable childhood and at the worst death," said an outraged Severus.

"Now, doen't be dramatic, Severus," said Albus.

"Dramatic? Do you know how many children die of abusive parents in the muggle world every day. The numbers are enormous," he said.

"I've spoken to the Dursley's," Albus said.

"So what? Do you really think that will stop them? People like them don't stop. They just keep getting worse and worse until it can't get any worse. Until they are arrested or end up killing there victims. Most of the time it's the latter," Severus explained.

"He is safest at the Dursley's," he insisted.

"Safest form who? The dark lord? The death eaters? That's all well and good. You'll be able to stop him from being killed by death eaters. The Durseley's will just do their job for them. Mark my words, that child will not live to see his fifteenth birthday if you leave him in that house. He might not even survive the summer. Do you want that on your conscience?" asked Severus.

"What would you have me do, Severus? Should I give him to a dark family? Should I give him to a family that will covet him instead of loving him?" asked Albus.

Severus then said something that no one, including himself, ever thought he'd say. "Give him to me."

"Severus, you can't be serious. You hate the boy," Albus reminded.

"I don't' hate him. I don't like him, but I don't hate him. Given time, I could come to love him. He'd be better off with me than with those animals," said Severus.

"When Voldemort returns, I will need you to spy. You won't be able to do that if you are Harry's guardian. I'm sorry, I can't afford to lose you," said Albu.

"If you send that child back to a horrible life, you will lose me. I will not work for a man that allows a child to be tortured. I will leave Hogwarts and I will not spy," Severus threatened.

"That goes for me too," said Minerva.

"Why can't you both accept that this is for the greater good?" he asked.

"How is hurting a child ever for the greater good and who the hell are you to decide that?" asked Severus. "I swear to you, if you do not give me your oath that you will not send that boy back, I will not help you find him, in fact, I will help them stay gone."

"Severus," Albus stated.

"I mean it. Give me your oath or I will make sure you never find those boys," he said.

Albus sighed. He knew that Severus meant it. He also knew that with Severus on his side, he would never get Harry back. "Alright."


	6. Chapter 6

Harry frantically shook Draco to get him up. "Draco, Draco wake up."

Draco slowly started to stir. "What? What's going on?"

"You have to get up. We have to get out of here," Harry said as he quickly tossed everything he brought into a bag.

"Why, what' s going on?" Draco asked as he started to do the same.

"Professor Snape is here," Harry answered. He'd gone out to go back to the store and had seen professor Snape at the front desk.

Draco's eyes widened. "How did he find us?"

"I don't know, but we have to get out of here now," Harry said as he grabbed his cloak. "Here, get underneath."

Draco and Harry quickly got under the cloak and walked out the door quietly. As they approached the stairs, they saw Professor Snape coming up. They moved up against the wall and Harry motioned for Draco to be quiet.

After the professor had passed them, they both breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," said Draco.

"Too close. Lets get out of here," Harry said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"And you're sure they were there?" Albus asked after Severus got back.

"Positive. The desk clerk remembered seeing two boys. one with a lightening bolt scar," Severus explained. "They must have seen me or something."

"Why would they run?" he asked.

"Why do you think? They ran for a reason. They're afraid we're going to send them back. And why shouldn't they be?" Severus asked, looking at Albus pointedly.

"Severus, I already agreed not to send them back," Albus reminded him.

"Yeah, after I twisted your arm. My point is that they have good reason not to trust you, or me for that matter.

"So where do you suggest we look now?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I doubt they'll go to a hotel. I suggest we focus on Potter. Draco doesn't know anything about the muggle world, so Potter is probably the brains of the operation," Severus said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Hours later, Harry and Draco made it to their new location. It was the same hut that Dursley's had brought him to years earlier. "Are you sure about this place, Harry?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, no one will look for us here. My relatives brought me here to get away when my letter came. No one would guess that I'd hide anywhere that had anything to do with them," Harry explained.

"What if your relatives decide to come?" he asked.

"They won't. They didn't like this place. They only came to get away from wizards," Harry explained.

Draco nodded. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too. Come on, let's start dinner," Harry suggested. They'd stopped by a store before getting to the hut.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A couple hours later, Harry and Draco were laying down on the floor with blankets. "How long do you think we'll have to do this, Harry?"

"Run? Until we're adults I guess," Harry answered.

"No, I knew that, but how many times do you think we'll have to keep moving before they stop looking for us?" Draco asked.

Harry sighed. "I don't know. They might never stop looking for us. That's why I think we should get as far away as possible."

"But how?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. That's why I think we should just stay here for a couple of days and try to figure it out," Harry said. He had to admit, he was scared. He didn't want to go back to the Dursley's and he had no idea how they were going to continue to hide from everyone. He just hoped they would figure it out soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry and Draco entered Harry's parents old home in Godric's Hollow. It had been nearly two months since they'd runaway together. Somehow they'd managed to stay hidden so far.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be here, Harry. This is probably a place Dumbledore would think to search," Draco said.

"They don't know that I know where this place is," Harry said. He'd looked into it during the year and found out exactly where his parents' old home was. "Besides, if they were going to search it, they would've by now."

"Still, I don't think it's so safe to be here," Draco said. It was a place that connected them to their old lives in the wizarding world. What they needed was to go someplace that had no connection to themselves or anyone else in the wizarding world.

"We won't stay long. I just needed to see this place once. I needed to see where my parents took their last breaths," Harry said. He then looked around. There wasn't really much to see. It didn't even look inhabitable. Obviously this was the result of Voldemort's handy work. "Voldemort sure did a number on this place, huh?"

Draco placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He just wanted Harry to know that he was there. They'd gotten quite close in the last couple of months. They weren't enemies anymore. Hell, they weren't even just two kids that were just working together. They were friends now, family even. They looked out for each other the way brothers did. They had no choice. If they didn't look out for each other, no one else would.

Harry turned and smiled at his friend. "I'm fine, Draco."

"You're a horrible liar," Draco said as he removed his hand.

Harry snorted. "We both know that's not true." He was actually a good liar. He'd managed to hide the abuse he'd suffered at the Dursley's for years and the fact that he didn't hate Draco for nearly a year. That all said a lot for his acting skills and his ability to lie. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Already?" Draco asked surprised. He figured his friend would want to stay longer.

"I told you, I just wanted to see this place. Now that I have, we can go," Harry said.

"Harry, wait," Draco said. He'd noticed something under the rubble and bent down to pick it up. It was a stuffed dog. "This must be yours."

Harry took the stuffed animal and held it. "I must have dropped it or something that night. It's just as well. My aunt and uncle would've thrown it away or given it to Dudley or something."

"You can have it now though."

Harry nodded and stuffed the animal in his jacket. "Come on. Let's go."

"Where to now?" Draco asked.

"Another hotel, I guess," Harry said. He really didn't see any other option. At first he'd wanted to get right out of England, but then he'd realized how hard that would be. Leaving the country involved jumping through a lot of hopes for an adult, let alone two fourteen-year-old boys."

"What about your family home?" Draco asked.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. As far as he knew, they were in the only family home he had.

"Every pureblood wizarding family has a manor. We should go to Potter Manor," Draco said. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of this before now. It was so obvious.

"Great idea, Draco. Except that we don't know where it is or how to get there," Harry said dryly.

"We don't need to. All we need is access to the floo network. We just shout out the name and it'll take us there," Draco said.

"That's actually a good idea. Why didn't you come up with it two months ago?" Harry asked.

"Just be glad that I came up with it now," Draco said. "The only thing is we can't use a public fireplace like in Diagon Alley. They can trace those and find out where we've gone. We've got to use a private one."

"How the bloody hell do you propose we do that?" Harry asked. That seemed impossible to do. It would mean them telling someone from the wizarding world.

"We'd have to go to someone. A friend maybe," Draco said.

"It can't be mine. My friends would just tell me to go to Dumbledore and trust him to do the right thing."

"Idiot Gryffindors. No offense," he said after the fact.

"How could I possibly take offense to that?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Draco ignored his friend. "I know who we can ask for help."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of days later, Harry and Draco were following Blaise Zabini into his house.

"You're sure no one else's here, right Blaise?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, my mother's out. You guys do realize that the entire wizarding world is looking for you as we speak, right?"

"Yeah, we know. That's why we have to get out of here," Draco said.

"And you really think that going to Potter's family home will stop them from finding you?" Blaise asked skeptically.

"Why not? No one knows we know about it. Hell, I didn't know about it until the other day when Draco brought it up," Harry said.

"Look, it's the only place we have to go to. Are you going to let use your floo or not?" Draco asked.

Blaise suddenly stopped and turned to them. "If anyone finds out I helped you, it's my ass."

"No one's going to find out unless you tell them."

Blaise continued to look at them for a minute before saying, "Alright. I'll just tell my mother I was visiting Theo or something if she notices the missing floo powder." He then led them into the living room where the fireplace was and handed them floo powder. "You better go quickly. Mother will be back any minute."

They took the floo powder and got into the fireplace. "Thanks, Blaise," Draco said before throwing the floo powder and shouting "Potter Manor!" In a puff of smoke, they were both gone.


	8. Chapter 8

After flooing, Harry landed onto of Draco with a loud thud. He had the worst luck with flooing. He always seemed to land with a crash.

"Umph!" Draco groaned. "Get off me, Mate!"

"Sorry, Dray," Harry said as he got up off his friend. He then looked around. He was in a very large living room. It looked to be twice the size of the Dursley's entire house. "Bloody hell."

"We made it," Draco said.

"This place is huge," Harry said in awe as he started towards the doorway. He walked through it and found himself in the dining room. It was had a table that looked like it could hold about a dozen people and a bar-like area.

"Yeah, Manor's are usually pretty big," Draco said.

Soon they both heard a 'pop'. They turned to see a house elf with a smile on its face. "Master James has returned!"

"Er, no. I'm Harry Potter. James' son," Harry said.

"Young Master Harry? Milly hasn't seen Master Harry since he was a baby!" Milly said.

"So you've been here this whole time?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Master Harry. Milly be taking care of Master James' home while he is being away. But he is back now and he is bringing Master Harry with him!" Milly said happily.

Harry looked away sadly. "Actually, my father isn't here. He's gone. My father was killed many years ago."

"K...Killed? Master James is dead?" asked the crestfallen elf.

"Yeah. For many years now," Harry said quietly.

Draco, seeing how upset his friend was getting decided to change the subject. "So no one else is here, right?"

"No, Master Harry's friend. Milly and the other elves is being the only ones here," she said.

"Um, Milly, if it's not too much trouble, would it be possible for us to get something to eat, maybe some sandwiches?" Harry asked. Hermione would likely have his head if she knew he was using house elves to get anything, but he was starving.

"Of course, Master Harry. Right away," Milly said before disappearing with a 'pop'

"So how long do you reckon we can hide out here?" Harry asked.

"I suppose we can stay here indefinitely. I mean, it doesn't look like anyone comes here at all," Draco said.

Just then Milly popped back in with plate full of sandwiches and two butterbeers.

"Thanks, Milly," Harry said.

Milly squeaked in surprise and then left.

"Come on, let's eat," Harry said. He was absolutely starving. He sat down at the table and took a bit of a turkey sandwich. "Oh, this is amazing."

"Yeah, House elves are good cooks," Draco said as he grabbed a ham sandwich.

"What do you reckon everyone else is doing about now?"

"Well, the Quidditch World Cup is happening soon. I was supposed to go with Father," Draco said.

"Sorry, you're not there?" Harry asked.

"Not really. I mean, Quidditch is awesome, but not worth getting the crap beaten out of me," Draco said as he took a sip of his butterbeer.

"I'd probably be at the Weasleys about now," Harry said longingly. He really did miss his friends.

"You miss them, don't you? Yeah, I miss my friend too, but it's like I said at the train station that day. We're no good to them dead. And if we went back to our homes, we would've eventually been killed," Draco said.

"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it though," Harry said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I miss my mother a lot," Draco said. His mother had always been the one good thing about his home. She never stood up for him, but she always made him feel loved. She was the hardest to leave.

"Look, let's stop talking about this sad stuff and go explore," Harry suggested.

Draco smiled. "I can get behind that," Draco said before getting up and rushing towards the stairs, Harry quickly trailing behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Severus opened his front door and found Lucius on the other side. "Lucius. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Lucius pushed his way inside. "I hear that you're a part of the group Dumbledore has searching for the Potter boy and my son. Any leads."

"Not so far," Severus said. It was true, but even if it wasn't, he would've have told Lucius. Children didn't normally run away for no reason. They both had their reasons for going and the more Severus thought about it, the more he was certain that it was the same reason for both of them.

"You're telling me that two fourteen-year-old boys are a match for you?" Lucius asked.

"One of those boys is your son, which means he's well versed in the magical world. The other is versed in the muggle one. They could be anywhere by now," Severus said. That was the hardest part about finding them. They had two words to hide in. Now Severus was pretty sure they weren't in the magical world, but he could be wrong. They could literally be anywhere.

"Draco would never step foot in the muggle world," Lucius said confidently.

"Really? Draco is a resourceful young man, Lucius. I think he will use whatever resources he has to. By the way, why do you suppose he does want to get away?" He was really anxious to hear what Lucius would say to that.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Lucius said feigning innocence.

"Children don't run away for no reason," Severus said simply.

"Well, I'd say that the Potter boy is responsible," Lucius said.

"I wouldn't be so sure. No one can make Draco do anything he doesn't want to do," Severus said.

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait until Draco is found before we can learn why he left. You'll be sure to let me know once you have a lead, yes?" Lucius asked.

"Of course," he said. He then watched as Lucius went to the door. "Oh, and Lucius, when I do find Draco, I will uncover why he has chosen to run, and rest assured, I will do everything in my power to rectify the problem."

Lucius simply looked at him for a moment and left.


End file.
